The conference aims to discuss in depth the implementation of the European Union Biodiversity Strategy.

The main task of the Latvian Presidency in organising this conference is to contribute to the drafting of the biodiversity strategy mid-term evaluation report.

In order to share experiences and jointly develop recommendations for future action, the conference will bring together representatives from the governmental and non-governmental sectors, as well as representatives of land users' and landowners' organisations from all the EU Member States.

The conference will be organized by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia in collaboration with the European Commission, Latvian Nature Fund and European Environmental Bureau. The Latvian Fund for Nature and the European Environmental Bureau implement the project that enables active participation of non-governmental organisations in the conference, receiving  support of Latvian state budget funded programme Support for public participation in implementing the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Presentation from the conference:

26 May:

• "The European Environment State of Natura & State and outlook 2015" (Mr Ronan Uhel, European Enivironmental Agency) (PDF)
• "Mid-term review of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020" (Mr François Wakenhut, European Commission) (PDF)
• "EEB`s perspective on progress achieved in implementing the Biodiversity Strategy: time to double our efforts" (Mr Jeremy Wates, European Environmental Bureau (EEB)) (PDF)
• "Linkage to informal Environmental council – taking forward the results of the informal council, challenges and opportunities" (Mr Jurijs Spiridonovs, Ministry of Economics of Latvia) (PDF)
• "The integration of biodiversity in the sustainability strategy of HeidelbergCement" (Dr Michael Rademacher, HeidelbergCement) (PDF)
• "Natura 2000 and Forests" (Mr Stefan Leiner, European Commission) (PDF)
• "Integrating biodiversity into Common Agricultural Policy. Continued struggle or a wishful thinking?" (Mr Konstantin Kreiser, International Biodiversity Policy Officer, NABU (BirdLife Germany)) (PDF)
• "Integrating Biodiversity. The Land user`s perspective" (Mr Thierry de l`Escaille, European Landowners` Organization) (PDF)
• "Management of biodiversity in military training areas" (Mr Tilmann Disselhoff, Conservation consultant, Germany) (PDF)

27 May:

• "Implementation of Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy: Status and progress of MAES (Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services)" (Mr Joachim Maes, Joint Research Center of European Commission) (PDF)
• "Nature based solutions to societal challenges – feedback from ALTER-Net conference" (Ms Birgit de Boissezon, European Commission) (PDF)
• "Assessing and paying for ecosystem services in Europe – opportunities and WWF experience" (Mr Alberto Arroyo Schnell, WWF) (PDF)
• "REA-Flanders: Regional Ecosystem Assessment – Flanders" (Dr. Wouter Van Reeth, Belgium) (PDF)
• "Assessment of ecosystems and green infrastructure following the Charter of Rome" (Mr Eugenio Duprè, Italy) (PDF)
• "Biodiversity law in France" (Mr Laurent Roy, France) (PDF)
• "UK`s experiences on payments for Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital Accounting" (Ms Shirley Trundle, UK) (PDF)
• "Biodiversity, nature and green infrastructure in 2014-2020 Cohesion Policy" (Mr Sander Happaerts, European Commision) (PDF)
• "EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020 – Implementation: Innovative Financing Tools" (Mr James Ranaivoson, EIB) (PDF)
• "BirdLife`s mid-term assessment of the EU`s 2020 Biodiversity Strategy: how can we turn the tide in the remaining years?" (Mr Konstantin Kreiser, International Biodiversity Policy Officer, NABU (BirdLife Germany)) (PDF)